Despite the Parliamentary vote that the UK will not leave the EU without a deal, legally that is still a possibility regardless of any extension to 29 March being granted.

BEIC Chairman Andrew Joret, said: “The Government is trampling over all the good work the industry has done to raise animal welfare standards. In a few weeks’ time, consumers could be eating products made with eggs from hens housed in barren battery cages. This is not scaremongering but a real risk.

“This is extremely damaging for animal welfare and a serious breach of trust by a Government which seems to have lost its way on hen welfare.”

In an open letter to Michael Gove, the animal welfare groups and the BEIC have called on the Government to reconsider its stance before it’s too late.

Joret concluded: “We could see the country going to work on an egg from a barren battery cage, something we didn’t think we’d ever return to. The Government should hang its head in shame.”

Ryan worked in conservation from 2007-2017, during which time he operated a rainbow trout hatchery in Canada for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. As editor of The Poultry Site, he now writes about challenges and opportunities in the global poultry industry and agri-food chain.